The developments of Nobel laureates Benjamin Liszt from Germany and David McMillan from the United States can reduce the cost of production of many drugs and dietary supplements, as well as make them safer, scientists interviewed by RBC explained.
Liszt and McMillan received the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.” Peter Brzezinski, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, secretary of the Nobel Committee on Chemistry, told RBC that the method of asymmetric organocatalysis is of great importance for the development of science. “This is a completely new methodology that is versatile and environmentally friendly. It allows scientists to create the molecules needed for pharmaceuticals. The advantage is that you can produce the molecules you want in much fewer steps than before, ”Brzezinski said.
Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Chemistry, Professor, specialist in the field of bioorganic chemistry, molecular biology and biotechnology Valentin Vlasov explained that the study of Liszt and Macmillan can significantly simplify the synthesis of molecules. “The fact is that molecules are asymmetric – they are not round, like a ball, they are curves, they can be bent in any direction. And chemically they are very difficult to synthesize. Using the method developed by Liszt and Macmillan simplifies the synthesis, ”he said.
The developments of the new laureates will make it possible to obtain purer substances. “This is illustrated by such a medicine as thalidomide, from which children with developmental abnormalities were born. This is due to the fact that the synthesis led to the preparation of a mixture of isomers. The drug turned out to be harmful due to the fact that among the isomers were wrong. The Liszt and Macmillan method will help avoid this, ”the scientist said.
Denis Zhilin, PhD in Chemistry, also pointed out that there is such a problem in chemistry as asymmetric synthesis. “There are a number of molecules, in particular organic ones, that do not match their own mirror image. Such molecules are called asymmetric. If we take a molecule and its mirror image, called the mirror isomer, we will see that they have exactly the same chemical properties. But very often the biological properties of mirror isomers can differ. Roughly speaking, one is poison, the other is medicine, ”the researcher gave an example.
Removing the unnecessary isomer is quite difficult. Experts have been working on solving the problem of asymmetric synthesis for many years. “It is the method of asymmetric organocatalysis that allows one out of two mirror isomers to be synthesized. People have been struggling with the issue of asymmetric synthesis of one of the two mirror isomers for about a hundred years, this is one of the key areas, “Zhilin summed up.
The Nobel Committee said in justification of the award that for a long time it was considered possible to use only metals and enzymes as catalysts, but about 20 years ago, List and Macmillan independently developed a third type of catalysis – using a framework of carbon atoms to which atoms can attach active elements, including oxygen, sulfur or phosphorus. These catalysts are environmentally friendly and cheap to manufacture.
“This concept of catalysis is as simple as it is ingenious,” says Johan Akvist, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
